11/15/12 - A local judge has pushed back the trial date for a Warren man charged in the 2008 double-homicide of his brother and sister-in-law so that the defense can provide expert witness information to prosecutors. 66-year-old Jerome Kowalski is charged with two counts of open murder and felony firearms in the shooting deaths of Richard and Brenda Kowalski on May 1st, 2008. Todayâs hearing was part of a set of evidentiary and motion hearings that stemmed from an order by the Michigan Supreme Court, which directed 53rd District Court Judge Theresa Brennan to reconsider her decision to exclude expert testimony pertaining to Kowalskiâs psychological condition. All of the parties reached an earlier agreement to allow testimony pertaining to Kowalskiâs susceptibility to influence from authority, so long as it did not make claims about whether it actually influenced his confession. After lengthy negotiations behind closed doors between prosecutors and the defense today, Judge Brennan felt the only fair thing to do was adjourn the trial date out to give the defense an opportunity to produce to a summary of its proposed forensics expertâs qualifications to prosecutors. Brennan ruled that either a full report by the expert witness explaining the basis of his opinion be provided or a written description about the proposed testimony and the underlying basis of their opinion. All of the information must be provided to prosecutors by December 3rd. Barring any plea deal, the jury trial is scheduled to start the morning of January 7th in Howell. (JM)
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